All Entries in the "Featured" Category
Address by Ebrahim Rasool, South Africa Ambassador to the USA to the Minority Enterprise Development Week, Washington DC 24 August 2010
National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency, Mr. David Hinson,
Assistant United States Representative for Africa, Ms Florizelle Liser,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Ms Holly Vineyard,
President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, Mr. Stephen Hayes,
Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen;
It is a great pleasure that one of my first functions, and indeed, my first speaking engagement since taking office, should be to address the Minority Enterprise Development Conference. It is a signal that, among the myriad of important matters that can occupy an Ambassador, the facilitation of strong economic relations with the USA must rank as the priority.
This is especially crucial in the immediate after glow of South Africa’s successful hosting of the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup. The impact of this World Cup was particularly delicious because, once again, the capacity of South Africa and Africa to surprise was demonstrated. The World Cup swept away the waves of Afro-pessimism that created anxiety about the success of the event.
More importantly it opened a window on South Africa and Africa that made the world see us with fresh eyes for the first time. Particularly, citizens of the United States responded fulsomely by buying up most of the tickets and doing the long haul flight to enjoy the spectacle of the tournament.
They found in Africa and South Africa a peaceful people, a working infrastructure, spectacular natural scenery, fibre-optic connectivity, world class facilities, a vibrant culture, first class accommodation, and a soulful connection with humanity.
They found these despite the poverty, the economic inequality, the shortage of housing, the difficulty of delivering services, the preponderance of disease, and inadequate schools.
And in this contrast lies the wisdom of tonight’s focus: “Doing Business in Africa”.
In this gathering of distinguished leaders from governments, the private sector, and civil organisations, with our call to do business with Africa, and with the resonance we have with those historically marginalised from the economy, we put before you, not a plea for help in our endeavours, but a proposition. This proposition is simple. If you are ready for Africa, Africa is ready for you.
A few years ago, Manuel Castell’s visited our country and our continent. After many engagements with governments and business, citizens and organisations, he stunned us with the simplicity of his feedback. Africa, he noted, had fewer telephone connections as a continent than New York or Tokyo had as cities. There would be no digital and communications revolution in Africa without such connectivity. But connectivity requires a reliable supply of electricity or energy. The next link he made was that where a country and continent is in conflict, electricity pylons are the first targets of armed groups. His conclusion was that for Africa, therefore, to be part of the ICT revolution, Africa needs peace, and all the wherewithal that would make this a sustainable peace.
From this, a strong component of South Africa’s Africa policy was one of mediation, conflict resolution, peace-keeping, extending democracy and establishing institutions that give life to the rule of law. We saw the building of peace as the precondition for our economic revolution. The World Cup was a glimpse at a progress report, not the final product.
Today we have less than 5 armed conflicts on the continent. Over 90% of elections held over the last few years have been safe. Where election results have been contested, workable settlements have been negotiated. Leadership transitions are increasingly seamless. Institutions of State and Society are being built. Increasingly in Africa, we are seeing the establishment of the 3 foundations that any investor or business leader looks for: the rule of law, internationally justiciable legal system, and a globally integrated banking system.
This has, in turn, allowed for improved macro-economic management of African economies and we are seeing the results. Governments have lowered inflation, reduced foreign debt, and managed budget deficits downwards. Already the cost and ease of doing business is improving with lower trade barriers, and the regulatory environment is more co-ordinated and predictable, and less discretionary and cumbersome.
The prediction of Manuel Castells is being realised systematically. The United Nations has declared that the use of mobile phones and the internet is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world. Since the year 2000, there have been 316 million new mobile phone subscribers in Africa. This is the rock on which the potential African economic giant is founded.
It is from this basis that the African Union was able to put together a coherent framework for Africa’s growth and development through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). In turn, NEPAD has informed the increasing regional integration and collaboration among African countries. And all of this is underpinned by individual countries addressing their binding constraints to growth and development. All in all, Africa is poised to be a significant player in the global economic system, given our natural and human resources.
Having said all of these, let me show empirically what I know to be true in my invitation to you to do business with Africa. Consider the following:
1. Africa’s economic growth rate as a continent exceeded 5% last year, in the midst of a global recession, and is 2 to 3 times faster than that of the OECD countries.
2. Central Africa’s oil boom spurred a 14.4% growth for that region;
3. Ghana’s stock exchange is regularly one of the highest performing stock exchanges in the world;
4. In 2008, Africa’s households spent a combined US $860 bn – more than is spent in India or Russia - and this is set to rise to US $1,4 trillion by 2020; and
5. Regional integration in Southern Africa though the SADC Free Trade Agreement has created a regional market worth US $360 bn with a population of 170m people. When Angola and the DRC sign up this will increase significantly. Imagine the huge duty free markets across Africa when similar Free Trade Agreements take effect through ECOWAS, COMESA & the EAC.
Understanding all of these, the June 2010 McKinsey Report, entitled “Lions on the Move Progress and Potential of African Economies”, reaffirms that African governments have introduced reforms to improve the business climate, implemented structural reforms to make doing business easier and consequently created great opportunities for joint venture partnerships. In addition the World Bank has confirmed that the rate of return on investments is higher in Africa that in any developing region.
Where is all of this growth taking place, and where should you invest? Between 2002 and 2007:
§ The financial intermediation sector yielded a compound annual growth rate of 24%;
§ The tourism sector grew by 8.7%;
§ The transport and telecommunications sectors by 7.8%;
§ The wholesale and retail sectors by 6.8%; and
§ Resources, agriculture, manufacturing, utilities, construction, real estate and business services all exceeded 5% growth.
There are enormous opportunities in the downstream development of the continent’s resources; in the creation of critical infrastructure like roads, railways, ports and utilities; and in the burgeoning consumer market of Africa through merchandise exports. There is the incredible incentive to take advantage of the substantially duty-free access to markets in Southern Africa and soon across Africa. There is a world of partnerships and joint ventures to share risks and gains with in the 20 home-grown African companies, each with revenues of at least US $3bn. And there is the comfort of a continent embracing democracy, the rule of law, and economic development as the only sustainable ways to overcome our legacy of poverty and underdevelopment.
Our invitation to you is to trade, to invest, to tour. There is money to be made in Africa.
Africa’s Sports Magazine, “African Sports Network Journal” will be inaugurated and introduce to the larger sports community on Thursday, September 10th, 2009
REAL NEWS|REAL SPORTS|REAL FANS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2009
Contact Information:
Communication Department
African Sports Network, Inc.
Tel: 646-785-1471
info@africansportsnetwork.org
http://www.africansportsnetwork.org
PRESS RELEASE
Are you Ready? Africa Sports News at its Best. Africa Wake Up! Game on!
Africa’s Sports Magazine, “African Sports Network Journal” will be inaugurated and introduce to the larger sports community on Thursday, September 10th, 2009, under the Patronage of H.E Ambassador Samuel Assefa of Ethiopia and H.E Ambassador Welile Nhlapo of South Africa gearing to the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa under the theme: ”Sports As A Platform For Image Change And Prosperity In Africa”.
Main Event: AFRICAN SPORTS NETWORK
When: Thursday September 10th Time: 6-9PM
Where:
Embassy of Ethiopia
3506 International Drive,N.W.
Washington, D.C. 2008
202- 274-4575
THE SPORTS BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE
The African Sports Network Journal is a quarterly publication that provides the critical news and information that sports industry executives need to be successful in the fast-paced world of sports business and hospitality.
Every issue features the latest and most important stories, in-depth reports on trends, original research, up-to-date industry statistics, key executive profiles. African Sports Network journal also features regular columns on critical areas of sports business management including marketing, finance, and media, as well as facilities and events planning.
Subscribing to the African Sports Network Journal is the best thing you’ll do today.
Why?
Because no other publication looks at African sports as seriously as we do and with a lot of humor and fun as well!
• African Sports Network journal will be published quarterly, in March, June, September, and December.
• All subscriptions begin with the next published issue.
• Advertise (a tax deductible donation) as we are a registered not-for-profit.
• Event Fact Sheets are available or kindly visit our website www.africansportsnetworkjournal.com
• Sponsorship opportunities available: Presenting sponsor; Entertainment sponsor, Grand Ballroom sponsor; VIP lounge sponsor; In-kind partnerships.
E-mail us for a complete list of sponsorship categories.
Tax-deductible Ad RATES: For info regarding ad rates please visit our website:
www.africansportsnetworkjournal.com
Have a Question? E. info@africansportsnetworkjournal.com
Awasum Junior, Founder and CEO
African Sports Network, Inc.: www.africansportsnetwork.org
African Baseball Network, Inc.: www.africanbaseball.com
African Sports Network Journal: www.africansportsnetworkjournal.com
How You Can Help
By Making a donation, small or large, it will go towards support of our programs as well as helping defray the cost of producing and printing of our independent publication, African Sports Network Journal, the first magazine in honor of African athletes and sports personalities. Further, we would also encourage you to take a tax-deductible advertisement, as we are a registered not-for-profit in the State of New York.
African Sports Network Journal, will promote self-esteem and social progress; It will also be a collective voice for the African continent via its athletes;
Its vision is an Africa actively participating in the global market; An Africa ready for the future; An Africa determined to offer forward its talented and progressive peoples, with a focus on professional sports as another avenue for change.
Your support of our mission, is in the spirit of recognizing our interdependence while encouraging cross-cultural cooperation, as we work together towards the betterment of Africa’s populace and world cultures.
It is in this spirit that I would like to present a fresh opportunity for cultural exchange and cooperation with African Sports Network which will highlight the contributions made by our super talented African athletes, and their success as global ambassadors, in the various global teams that they are currently engaged, in the U.S. and worldwide.
African Sports Network encourages you to give generously in support of our efforts and in support of our programs, and in support of Africa’s athletes. We are counting on you! Give Today!
African Sports magazine will be distributed in the tri-state area, the various U.N. Missions and Embassies, as well as in other selected venues, locally, nationally and internationally.
African Sports Network, is an independent, not-for-profit whose additional goal, is to educate the world community about Africa using athletics as a vehicle to present a positive image of our wonderful continent, This is an opportunity not to be missed; Make a donation and or place a tax–deductible advertisement in the African Sports magazine.
To make a donation to African Sports Network,
Please visit our website: www.africansportsnetwork.org
T. 646.785.1471
F. 212 234 4255
E. info@africansportsnetwork.org
NOTE: Any media interested in covering the event at the Ethiopian Embassy should contact:
ASN Media Relations at: 646-785-1471 or
info@africansportsnetwork.org
Contact: Awasum Junior, African Sports Network, 212- 945- 8784
Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane’s Speech on the occasion of a dinner in Honour of the United States of America Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton, Presidential Guest House, 07 August 2009.
Secretary of State, Your Excellency Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton;
Members of our Cabinet;
Distinguished Members of the Visiting Delegation;
Premiers;
Members of our Parliament;
Mayors;
Senior Government Officials;
South African Ambassador to the US, Mr Welile Nhlapho;
US Charge d’Affaires to South Africa, Madam Helen La Lime;
Ambassadors and High Commissioners;
Members of the Business Community;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Tonight is an important moment in bilateral relations between South Africa and the United States as we have in our midst Her Excellency, Secretary Hillary Clinton, who is here to reaffirm and enhance the partnership that has developed between our two countries over the years. We welcome you to our country, Madame Secretary, and hope to live up to our reputation as Africans that we are hospitable and ready to go out of our way to make our guests feel at home. You were once inspired by this African spirit of “community” when you wrote in your book that “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”.
We are delighted to see Assistant Secretary Johnnie Carson again who was here with us for the inauguration of President Jacob Zuma. The presence of Congresswoman Nita Lowey and Congressman Donald Payne in your Delegation is highly appreciated as we know how hard they work in the US Congress to champion the cause of our continent. We are also looking forward with great anticipation to working with your Ambassador-Designate to South Africa, HE Mr Donald Gips, when he takes up his post in due course. We are happy that he is here with you to soften the ground for his final landing later in the year.
Madame Secretary
Your visit to our country comes three months after our people have given President Zuma the mandate to lead us for the next five years. We have made the undertaking to work together with our people to achieve more in the areas of health, education, rural development, job creation, and combating crime and corruption.
That you have chosen to visit our country and continent just six months into the term of office of your Administration is, to us, a positive indication of the importance you attach to the relationship between our two countries, and between your country and Africa.
In outlining priorities for his Administration, President Zuma committed our country to working together with other nations for a better world and Africa, because he believes that it will take the efforts of all of us in the global village to achieve this goal. We see ourselves as part of this global partnership – between the South and the North and among countries of the South – working together to confront challenges of poverty, development, peace and security, post-conflict reconstruction, and the governance of our international system. For us, the advancement of the plight of Africa and the integration of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), are top priorities we hold dear to our hearts.
We committed ourselves at our bilateral meeting earlier today to strengthening the good relations between our two countries. The US is South African’s second largest export market after Japan. There are over 600 American businesses operating in South Africa and US investors are among South Africa’s largest portfolio investors.
Our country is also grateful for the partnership you have with us in, for instance, the area of training for some of our state institutions and the medical research programme on HIV and AIDs. I am aware that you will be visiting some of your projects in the course of your stay in our country, and I can assure you that you will find our people not only hospitable but also dedicated to delivering on what those projects are intended for.
We also agreed this morning on the need to elevate our bilateral mechanism, with its various Working Groups, to the ministerial level, and even explore the possibility of establishing a Business Council to expand ties between our respective business communities. These measures should reinforce our energy as we work together with yourselves on the priorities of our Administration for the next fives years, including in the area of rural development and food security.
This partnership to which we have committed ourselves will enhance the efforts on our continent towards fighting hunger, disease and ignorance and to promote democracy and good governance, socio-economic development, peace and security, as well as post-conflict reconstruction and development. Our two countries are already engaged in a Trilateral Partnership to help our continent attain these noble goals.
Madam Secretary,
We had followed with great enthusiasm your last Presidential Election and were, like many of your citizens, moved by the message of “Change” that President Barak Obama proclaimed for your country and how the US was to play its role in the international community. We are pleased that since his election to the White House, President Obama has worked hard to reach out to many countries, organisations and communities in the world to claim your country’s rightful place as a member of the international community. We believe, like your Administration does, in a strong, effective and democratic multilateral system.
We are encouraged by some measures taken by your Administration since assuming office that are aimed at strengthening the international system, like by taking your seat in the United Nations Human Rights Council.
We are also hopeful that you will use your position in the United Nations Security Council to give momentum to the reform agenda of the United Nations, including the expansion of the Security Council to take into account geopolitical realities of the 21st century.
The transformation of Bretton Woods institutions will be to the benefit of all us as their programmes not only impact on the economies of many countries on our continent, but also on women and other vulnerable groups in our communities.
A transformed global system, we believe, will enable the international community to best respond to, among others, the challenge of finding a two-state solution to the conflict between Palestinians and the state of Israel; disarmament and arms proliferation issues; the current global economic crisis, and the threat posed to the future of our planet by climate change. Our two countries have agreed to continue to collaborate in finding a lasting solution to these challenges.
Madam Secretary,
Your visit to our country is timely as every year in the month of August South Africans commemorate the day, fifty-three years ago, when 20.000 women, of all walks of life, marched on the Union Buildings under the banner of the Federation of South African Women, to deliver a petition bearing over a hundred thousand signatures that had been collected from all parts of our country.
This march has some resonance with the history of your own country as some few months before the event, in December 1955, Rosa Park’s modest act of defiance in a bus was to become one major step in the development of the Civil Rights Movement.
Our march was about the Pass Laws that were being instituted to control the movement of black women in urban areas; but it was also a culmination of years of struggle for the rights of women which had given birth to the Women’s Charter of 1954.
Since that march, the slogan ‘wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo’ (You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock), has become a symbol of the resilience of South African women and their sacrifices in the struggle for non-racial and non-sexist South Africa.
Some of our Veterans who were part of this great march are still with us today.
The African-American poet, Maya Angelou, paid tribute to black women of the calibre of those who were part of the 1956 march when she said:
“There is a kind of strength that is almost frightening in black women. It’s as if a steel rod runs right through the head down to the feet.”
You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock!!
However, our struggle for our full emancipation is far from over.
In South Africa, we have established the Progressive Women’s Movement whose convener is our former Deputy President, Her Excellency Madame Baleka Mbethe. We discussed at our meeting earlier today how Your Excellency can work with us to help create linkages between our Progressive Women’s Movement with like-minded women organisations in the US. The establishment of such linkages will serve as a good example of people-to-people ties between our two countries.
You, Your Excellency, are also a product of a long history of the struggle of women world-wide to break out of the confines of the kitchen to take their place in the midst of society. Had it not been for sacrifices of those heroines who won the right for women to vote in your country in 1920, the world would have been denied the benefit of your important contribution to humanity. President Obama spoke for most of us when he said about you during the presidential campaign that:
“She shattered barriers on behalf of my daughters and women everywhere, who now know that there are no limits to their dreams.”
Women cannot sit back in their laurels and expect somebody to champion their cause and lead their struggle. We can only forget at our own peril the wish of a third-century Vietnamese woman warrior, Trieu Thi Trinh, that:
“My wish is to ride the tempest, tame the waves, kill the sharks. I want to drive the enemy away to save our people. I will not resign myself to the usual lot of women who bow their heads and become concubines.”
Your Excellency, this wish has been granted in the form of great women leaders like yourself. But we can do more, working together. The friendship and good bilateral relations between our two countries can help this effort, as we are friends who are bound together by a common vision of a prosperous and democratic world that is free of hunger, disease, ignorance and the exclusion of women.
It will take the efforts of all of us, working together, to realise our dream of a better world and Africa.
I thank you.
Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to pay courtesy call to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
New York- International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will, on Thursday 25 June 2009 pay a courtesy call to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in her capacity as the new Minister of International Relations and Cooperation under the leadership of President Jacob Zuma.
The meeting, currently underway in New York, USA, takes place on the sidelines of the United Nations High level conference on world financial and economic crisis.
Amongst the issues on the agenda at the conference is the examination of the impact of the global financial crisis on employment, trade, investment and development, including the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals and the Millennium Development Goals.
In conclusion, Minister Nkoana-Mashabane is expected to emphasise the need for speedy implementation of the G20 Summit resolutions in particular the deployment of resources to salvage vulnerable economies in the developing world.
Issued by Nomfanelo Kota on +27 82 459 3787
kotan@foreign.gov.za
South African Permanent Mission to the UN
New York
United States of America
25 June 2009.
Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to participate in UN High-Level Conference on global financial and economic crisis, New York, USA, 24 to 26 June 2009
New York – Today, Wednesday 24 June 2009, International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will participate in the United Nations High Level Conference on World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development scheduled for 24-26 June 2009.
Accordingly the Conference will highlight the following:-
- Examine the current economic and financial crisis and its impact on development;
- Seek to find appropriate and effective solutions to curbing the crisis while assessing future impacts of the crisis on, inter alia, employment, trade, investment and development, including the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals and the Millennium Development Goals; and
- Highlight the importance of the role of the United Nations (UN) and its Member States in the ongoing international discussions on reforming and strengthening the international financial and economic system and architecture.
Developing countries, in particular, view the global crisis as an opportunity to reform the global financial and economic regimes and to increase their say and participation in the decision-making processes and governance structures of the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs).
The conference will further consider
- The contributions of the UN development system to the international response to the crisis.
- Coordinated action from UN Member States aimed at minimising the impact of the global crisis on development.
- Envisioned that the Conference will discuss immediate actions needed to provide assistance to the most vulnerable countries the majority of which are in Africa.
South Africa as a member of the G77, consisting of 132 developing countries, supports the adoption of a detailed outcome document.
Background to the UN high level conference on the global financial crisis
The UN Conference will give effect to the decision of the International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Doha, Qatar, from 28 November to 2 December 2008, which agreed to hold a United Nations conference in 2009 on the “world financial and economic crisis and its impact on development.”
Subsequently In April 2009 former President Motlanthe joined world leaders at the G20 Summit in London, United Kingdom where South Africa stressed that a global response was required to mitigate the impact of the crisis and prevent its contagion to emerging markets and developing countries, in particular Africa.
In her contribution to the Conference Minister Nkoana-Mashabane is expected to emphasize the need for a speedy implementation of the G20 Summit resolutions in particular the deployment of resources to salvage vulnerable economies.
Highlights of the conference program
24 June 2009,
10h00- 13h00- Opening of the conference by Secretary General of the United Nations
- Election of the President
- Opening statement by the President of the conference, the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary General of the UN.
15h00- 18h00- General exchange of views on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on development. (Statement by Heads of State of Government, Ministers and Heads of Delegation).
Round table 1 -Theme” the role of the UN and its Member states in the ongoing International discussion on reforming and strengthening the International Financial and Economic system and architecture”
25 June 2009
10h00- 13h00- Round table 2-Theme “Coordinated and collaborative action and appropriate measures to mitigate the impact of the crisis on development”.
Minister Maite Nkoana Mashabane to have a bilateral meeting with the UN Secretary General Ban-Ki- Moon
Issued by Nomfanelo Kota on +27 82 459 3787
kotan@foreign.gov.za
South African Permanent Mission to the UN
New York
United States of America
24 June 2009.
Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to participate in the High Level Conference on Sudan, Washington D.C.
Pretoria - International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, will today 21st June 2009 depart for Washington DC to participate in the High-Level Conference on the role of the international community in the implementation of the Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), slated for 22-23 June 2009.
The High Level Conference, organised by the United States Government, is informed by the need for the international community to assist the Parties to the CPA to overcome challenges in the implementation of the Agreement. While notable progress has been recorded, difficulties with the implementation of contentious provisions of the Agreement have become a concern. According to the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG), Mr Ban Ki-Moon, with just two years to go, “the CPA has reached a critical juncture where any action or inaction on its provisions will have a profound impact on the future of the Sudan.”
South Africa is the Chair of the African Union (AU) Ministerial Committee on the Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development (PCRD) of the Sudan, which is mandated to assess the needs and magnitude of the post-conflict challenges in the Sudan, to mobilise African support for PCRD efforts and to sensitise the international community about the magnitude of the PCRD challenges of the Sudan.
South Africa and the Sudan enjoy strong bilateral relations and convene Joint Bilateral Commission (JBC) sessions at both ministerial and senior officials’ levels. South Africa has also deployed troops and civilian police in Darfur as part of the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Former President TM Mbeki chairs the AU High-level Panel on Darfur (AUPD), which is mandated to “examine the situation in Darfur in depth and to submit recommendations on how best the issues of accountability and combating impunity, on the one hand, peace, healing and reconciliation, on the other, and how the Darfur conflict could be effectively and comprehensively addressed”. The Panel is due to present its report to the AU Summit in July 2009.
Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane is also expected to hold, on the fringes of the Conference, bilateral talks with the US Secretary of State, Ms Hillary Clinton.
Issued by Nomfanelo Kota on 082 459 3787
Department of International Relations and Cooperation
Private Bag x 152
Pretoria
0001
21 June 2009.
IEC Statement on Procedures for Voting Abroad
In light of the Constitutional Court ruling of March 12 2009, the Department of Foreign Affairs has received the following official statement from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) setting out steps to be taken by registered South African voters who intend to vote outside South Africa in the upcoming election.
President Motlanthe’s Message of Congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama
“Your election to this high office of the American people carries with it hope for millions of your country men and women as much as it is for millions of people of particularly of the African descent both in the continent of Africa as well as those in the Diaspora”, President Kgalema Motlanthe said in a message to president-elect Barack Obama.
Media Statement: President Kgalema Motlanthe concludes Deliberations at the Group of 20 Leaders Summit on Financial Markets, Washington DC
President Kgalema Motlanthe, supported by the Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and a high level delegation, today, Saturday,15 November 2008, concluded deliberations at the Group of 20 (G-20) Leaders Summit on Financial Markets, Washington DC, United States.
